Oil-well plug.



E. PORTER.

OIL WELL PLUGI APPLICATION FILED 11:13.21, 190e.

903,314. Patented Nov. 1o, 1908.

vbe so referred to hereinafter.

ERNEST PORTER, 0F MONTICELLO, KENTUCKY.

OIL-WELL PLUG.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 1o, 190s.

Application filed February 21, 1908. Serial No. 417,166.

To all 'whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, ERNEST PORTER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Monticello, in the county of Wayne and State of Kentucky, have invented a new and useful Oil-*Well Plug, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to plugs for oil wells and the like, and has special reference to plugs to be used in sealing abandoned wells.

The object of the invention is to provide a plug which may be lowered to any desired eptp in the well and securely locked at that A further object of the invention .is to provide a plugl having means by which the lowering wire or rope may be detached when the plug has been placed in position.

The invention consists in certain novel features of construction, arrangement of parts, and combination of details, hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and specifically claimed.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 shows the invention in a position for lowering into a well the device being in elevation and the parts in the position for lowering within the well. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing a well plugged with the invention the device being shown in section and the parts in the position assumed when the plug is locked in the well, the rod being shown at the instant of severing the cord. F ig. 3 is a detail of the supporting rod in elevation. Fig. 4 is a section on the line A-B of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a sectional view of a modification of the device.

Similar numerals of reference are employed to indicate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawings.

The numeral 10 indicates the body of the device. In the form shown here, the body portion is beveled off, as at l1, a wedge 12 preferably provided with transverse serrations 13 being held to slide upon this beveled portion. It has been found sometimes advisable to replace the beveled portion 11 with a channel guide or slot, the bottom of which is similarly beveled and as the portion 11 is for the purpose of a guide, it will A rod 14 is attached to the wedge 12 and passes through tween one of the loops 15 and the wedge 12 is a coiled spring 16. This spring normally tends to force the wedge along the guide,l

and as the latter is beveled in the direction shown, the wedge will, also, move outward from the axis of the body portion as it moves along said guide. It will now be plain that if the wedge is retracted and t-he device inserted in a well, it will readily be moved up or down said well.' If, however, the wedge be allowed to slip forward, it will project a small distance beyond the body portion 4and will be adapted t0 engage the. side of the well.

It will be observed that the device may be used either with cased or uncased wells, but it is here shown in a well provided with a casing, as indicated by the numeral 17. Through the center of the body portion is made a hole 18 in which is fitted a rod 19. At the lower end yof the rod 19 is formed an elongated eye 20, and at the lower end of the rod 14: is carried a loosely hung latch pin 21. The rod 14 is of such a length that when the wedge is retracted and the spring 16 compressed, the lower end of said rod will just clear the bottom of the body portion and permit the pin 21 to lie transversely thereon.

Now, if the pin 21 be inserted in the eye 2O of the rod 19 and the rod drawn up in the body, the eye 2O will hold the inner end of the pin 21 and the wedge will be held in the retracted position. If, however, the rod 19 be allowed to slip down through the hole, the pin 21 will free itself from the eye 20 and the wedge will be forced along the guide by the action of the spring 16. At' the upper end of the rod 19 is an eye 22 and the distance between the eye 20 and the eye 22 is such that when the pin 21 is held in the eye 20 and the rod drawn up as far as it will go, the eye 22 just comes above the upper surface of the body portion. Through this eye there is then inserted a shearing piece 23, which I preferably make of some brittle wood. A third eye 24, the upper edge of which is beveled to form a knife, is formed in said rod 19, a short distance above the eye 22. Ears 25 are formed on the upper surface of the body portion 10 to act as a means of attachment for a cord 26 which is secured to said ears and passes through the eye 24, as shown in Fig. 1. Theseears may be made in the form of staples or eye screws, as

desired. The rod 19 is provided with a broadened head 27 having a hole 28 therethrough. adapted to receive a suspending rope orwire 29 which is passed through'the there is shown in Fig. 2, a weight 31 attached to said plug by a cord 32 secured to a staple 33 on the lower end of the lug.

In the operation of the device, t e wedge is retracted along the guide, the rod inserted, and the pin 21 passed through the-eye 2O thereof. The rod is then Adrawn up and the shearing piece 23 inserted in the eye 22. The cord y26v is then passed through one of the ears 25, the knife-edge eye 24;, the other ear 25, and the ends are then knotted together in connection with the knot 30 of the wire 29. The device is then lowered into the well by means of the cord 29 until the point is reached at which itis desired to plug the well. The weight, preferably made of a piece of pipe, having a smaller diameter than the head 27 of the rod 19, is then allowed to fall down vthe cord 29. This weight moving rapidly down the cord strikes the head 27 of the rod and sets the rod in motion with reference to the body 10, inasmuch as the body 10, being atrest, the inertia of rest of said body will not be overcome, but the rod 19 will be forced downward through the body breakin' the shearing piece 23 and cutting the cor 26, this being accomplished by reason of the lon bevel lof the knife edge permitting the cor to be drawn down into the opening until it is stretched across the edge of they knife, which then severs the cord. At the same time the pin 21 will sli out of the eye 20 and the wedge 12 be orced into locking position againstV the casing of the well. It is to be observed that as the cord 29 is of comparatively great length it will have a certain amount of extension due to the 'shfock of the falling wei ht, and' will thus permit the motion of t e rod in reference to the body. It is further to be observed that owing to the action of the spring, and the' shearing and release of the rod, taking place before the inertia of rest of the body 10 is overcomejby the force of gravity, the body 10 will remain in practically the same position as that in which it was when the weight was dropped. After the release and wedging actions have taken place, the rod 19 will be readily withdrawn from thebod portion and may be l hauled-,to the topof t e -well foruse another' time*v 1 .Yi

What is vclaimed is f f i 1. In a device ofthe kind described a body. portion havingl a guide thereon 4posed-at an angle tot arranged to. move longitudinally of :said

guide, a s rin trendingto move said wedge.

along sai guide land thereby to force' same outward'fiom saidaxis, locking means e .77o` ise axis thereof, a wedged` mounted on'saidwed e adapted to hold the same inthe retracte means carried by the b o locking means. y.

2. In Ya device of the' kind described a body portion having a guide thereon isaposition, and other posed Vat an an le to they axis thereof, an"

eyed rod extending therethrough, means for attaching said rod to said body, a wedge arranged to move longitudinally of said guide,

y to coactwith said a s ring adavv ted to force the same along s sai guide an outward from said axis, locking means carried by said wedge adapted .to hold `the vsame against the action of said spring, said lockingl means being arran ed for insertion within' the eye of the rod w en the parts are to be locked together.

3. .In a device of the kind described, a body portion, having a guide formed thereon disposed at an angle to the axis thereof,

body portion having a guide thereon, av

headed rod extending therethrough provided with a cuttin eye and a second ey below the same, a cor passing throu h said guiding eye connecting said rod an body,"a shearable member arranged in said second eye and supported on said body ortion, a wedge arranged to move lonitu inally of said guide, a s ring adapte to force the 4same along sai guide and outward from said axis, locking means carried by the wedge adapted to hold the same against lthe action i and an aperture therethrough, a rod exlos of said sprin and a third eye formed at the lower end o said rod arranged to engage said lookin means. y

5. In a body portion, a headed rod extending therethrough, a yieldable means for suspending said rod thereto, an eye formed in said rod, a shearable member in said eye to secure said body portion to said rod, a weight sliding on evice of thekind described,a

said suspending means adapted to strike said rod and cause said member to shear and release the rod from the body.

6. In a device of the kind described, an elongated body portion provided with a guide arranged at an angle to the axis of said body portion, a wedge slidably mounted on said body portion adapted to be directed by said guide, a spring to force said wedge along said guide and cause the same t0 move outward from the axis of the body, a rod provided with an enlarged head and havin a knife edged eye near said head, a secon eye immediately below said cutting eye adapted to receive a shearing piece, and a third eye of elongated form at the lower end thereof, said rod passing through said body portion, a shearable piece held in said second eye, a second rod attached to said Wedge, arranged to compress said spring, a latch pin loosely attached to the last mentioned rod adapted to enter the elon ated eye of the first mentioned rod and hold said s ring compressed, a cord passing throu h sai cutting eye connecting said rod an body portion, and means for suspending the first mentioned rod.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto axed my slgnature in the presence of two witnesses.

ERNEST PORTER. Witnesses:

W. C. JONES, BRooKs FOSTER. 

